Who We Are Doesn't Matter {For One of Jake's Characters}

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Airi Clothes:

Following the successful first day of the Summit, Airi had decided that some time to wind down from the formal event was needed thus the Japanese female had transfigured her stifling robes into more comfortable ones, ones for dancing. Having done the sightseeing yesterday, the young witch had seen a nightclub, hidden away under charms on the outskirts of one of the many alleys in the Cayman Islands. She had snooped around and asked questions and learnt that the nightclub was quite famous and catered to many people, it was a place where you just became another face in the crowd if no-one knew you.

Swiftly making her way there, the Japanese Minister tucked her wand into the holster on her wrist, hidden under invisibility charms, and in her left hand, she had a nondescript silver clutch bag that she could add a chain to make it a hand-bag.

Flashing her ID at the bouncer by the door, she knew she looked young enough to be ID'ed, she slipped inside the club, relaxing the moment the blasting music resounded through her ears. Quickly making her way towards the bar, she slipped onto one of the many chairs scattered around and waved a bartender down.

"I'd like a glass of Sex on the Beach please." The witch smiled and watched as the bartender got to mixing her drink swiftly and with such precision that she was mesmerized and she tipped the male when the orange-tinted drink was slid towards her. "For the show." She winked as she took the drink in hand and sipped it through the straw, the alcoholic bevarage relaxing her from the last of her formality.

After running in to Sierra Stark the first night of the Summit, Jake had told the witch that they should (try) to meet up again. Though, both of them were very busy with their respective jobs, and Jake had forgotten -- in his enjoyment of the evening -- to ask for Sierra's phone number.

Still, he was sure that if there was going to be another meet, it would happen.

Heading out with the other five Aurors who were designated to the day shift towards the bars of the Cayman Islands, Jake followed his colleagues in to a Nightclub with a stifled yawn. It might only be after eight in the evening, but after a twelve hour shift, it was getting on. Still, it wouldn't bode well to bail on the rest of his colleagues, so Jake moved to the bar to order the first round of drinks, and promptly charge it to the British Ministry's card that he'd been entrusted with for the stay.

By the time Jake had handed out the various drinks, his colleagues had headed off in a number of different directions on what the single father guessed was the 'prowl'. Shaking his head slightly as he finished typing the number in to the machine, Jake took the receipt and pocketed it to hand in to the Administrator when he got back to the UK as proof of the expenses.

His eyes travelled to the seats around him, landing on one young looking woman that he recognised -- though the attire she was now wearing was vastly different -- of the Japanese Minister. Moving from his place at the bar, Jake moved to the woman's side, and leaned against the bar.

"Airi... right?" Jake asked, his pronunciation of her name quite careful because it wasn't one he knew very well. "I'm Jake, Jake Newbury, I work for the British Ministry." Jake explained, though his American accent would leave something of a confusion given his current affiliation, Jake was vastly loyal to the British Ministry.

"How are you feeling after today?" Jake asked, though he didn't know whether the Minister might like to talk about it, it was a conversation opener, wasn't it? And, if she told him that much, Jake was quite happy to come up with something else to talk about. Sipping his beer, Jake waited for the Japanese woman to either take the conversation or else steer him to another topic.

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$Who We Are Doesn't Matter {For One of Jake's Characters} Rsz_1j10$

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Having not expected anyone to genuinely approach her, the Japanese witch was startled, even if only a tiny bit. The man next to her was clearly tired, she could tell from the slightly dazed look in his eyes even if he looked alert enough to jump into action, the drink in his hand, she wasn't sure if it was alcoholic or not, was probably not going to be fully drunk by the man. Not that she could blame him, the time they had both spent at the meeting, her as a representative and him as some type of protection, was making even Airi tired though she was of the thought that it was best to wind down first then go to sleep tired.

"Jake-san," The witch smiled politely at him correctly pronouncing her name, his own sliding off her tongue easily; she always had an affinity for languages and the English language had come to her easily thus you wouldn't be able to tell that she was foreign expect for the accent in her tone of voice. "It's very nice to meet you."

The question at how she felt caught her off guard though she quickly got herself under control and pondered on how to answer. "I'm feeling... tired actually." She laughed softly, her tinkling laugh resounding in their little corner. "Sitting in that room all day and listening to the many arguments for and against the lifting of the statue made me want to fall asleep in my seat." She blushed bashfully though the grin on her lips spoke that she was only half-teasing if it hadn't been for the regular refreshments they had been given, she probably would've fallen asleep. Listening to all those arguments, people talking about worldwide utopia and peace had only made her roll her eyes.

"And your Jake-san? How are you feeling?"

Jake gave the Japanese witch a small, apologetic smile, when he noticed he'd startled her. He had not meant to, of course, but he had, and that meant he owed her something of an apology in that moment.

When no correction came to his pronunciation of Airi's name, Jake couldn't help but look a little bit relieved, he didn't wish to cause any offence, and definitely not when they were at an international convention such as this. No, the idea of letting the British down because he couldn't pronounce a name was something Jake would find rather mortifying. "It's my pleasure." Jake assured the Japanese Minister when she said it was nice to meet him. He did have to note though, how the witch had added 'san' to his name.

In truth, the Minnesotan did not know what that meant, but he decided against questioning it, that, Jake figured, would be a rather rude question to ask.

The answer Jake received was half what he expected, but also half-unexpected. That much probably showed on the Auror's features in that moment as he tried to work out what in Merlin's name a Minister could find so boring about the Summit. It was fascinating, not boring, and yet, Airi had just showed she didn't care for being in line with conventions.

"I would have thought, and please excuse the assumption, that a Minister would have been vastly interested in the discussions that will, inevitably, affect their country, and thus the arguments would be vastly important..." Jake commented to the witch, trying not to sound rude, but not really understanding how you could find these things so boring you might fall asleep listening to them.

"I'm feeling as okay as any man can after a full day of work, and trying to keep up with the politics at the same time as trying to safeguard the Minister." Jake replied with a small smile, lifting his glass to his lips and taking a small sip of the concoction he'd been given.

"Which way do you think it will swing, the final verdict, I mean?" Jake added, seeing as this conversation hadn't been rebuffed, he might as well use it in that moment.

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$Who We Are Doesn't Matter {For One of Jake's Characters} Rsz_1j10$

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Watching Jake from beneath her lashes, Airi noticed the apologetic smile on the British wizard's face that she waved away with a careless wave of her hand. It had been her fault in the first place for not paying attention to what was going on. Even though they were on neutral soil, one never knew what could happen.

The relief that spread over Jake's face made the Japanese witch let out a delightful chuckle, her eyes twinkling in amusement and her cheeks flushed a pale pink. At least the taller wizard had taken the chance to try and say her name correctly unlike others who just mangled it up without even paying attention and where she a completely different Minister, she would've been insulted by that but as it was, she had a heart of gold so she forgave minor transgressions like that. It wasn't like it was something that could lead to an international incident after all.

"The arguments are important." She conceded the point, nodding her head as she placed one elbow on the bar and held her cheek in her hand, one leg crossed over the other and the glass in her right-hand being held upon her knee. "However the proposition of lifting the statue is something that we shouldn't be thinking about, at all." She commented.

"You're originally from America aren't you?" She asked. "Then you should know about the witch trials. That was the worst period in our lives. Being haunted by muggles for our birthrights. We weren't ready to deal with them then and we are not ready to deal with them now. As I said in my speech, we aren't ready to deal with the weaponry that the muggles have. I doubt we ever will be."

"Tell me Jake-san, how would you deal with the fallout that would happen if we told the muggles that we couldn't save them from illnesses like cancer or from wars? I can tell you that I wouldn't be able to deal with it. After all, I am just a single witch and I don't have the answer to every question and query. I don't have the means of stopping nuclear missiles, missiles that can wipe out the entire world within days."

At the question, the witch tilted her head before shrugging one shoulder. "It can go either way really."

The point Airi made about the Statute not being lifted was one that Jake nodded to -- he had, after all, listened to her speech, so he knew Japan's stance on the subject -- but it was good to see that the witch followed her own thoughts in what she did with the country. He was sure not all the representatives were voting in their perfectly honest opinions.

"Yes, I am." Jake replied to the question of where he was originally from. "I schooled at Salem." He added when she mentioned the witch trials, answering that part of her questioning without a direct yes or no. To say that they had been well aware of what had happened there was an understatement, but Jake didn't believe that in today's world they would still be subjected to such behaviour.

Perhaps, though, that was wishful thinking...

Jake listened avidly to her arguments, though, enjoying the mature conversation that he was able to have in that moment. Whilst coming out and getting rat-arsed -- as the British loved to call it -- was fun for some, Jake was growing up a fair bit. "To be honest," Jake started, thinking to the many missions he'd been on and the copious amount of people he hadn't been able to save. Not because he was rubbish at his job, but because you simply couldn't save them all. The number, though, to Jake was always 'too many' when a victim came from a crime. "I have to deal with that already. Why could you not save X? Why did hostage Y end up with multiple lacerations? As an Auror, I'm already questioned on my lack of superhero abilities, and my answer in each case is the same.

"I am only human, and sometimes, if you'll excuse the light use of the word, 'fate' has everything planned out for you." Jake replied, though whether Airi would understand, Jake didn't know.

"I understand, though, that the removal of the Statute should not be voted for on a whim. There will need to be a great deal of planning, a number more of these style meetings, and a slow merger of our people with the Muggle world. I don't think it will be easy, but I think, eventually, it will be better for our children, for the Muggles who's children grow up to be Magical folk. I just... think it's time we became as free as the rest of the world is..."

Jake trailed off, he knew his view was against Airi's, but it wasn't as fiercely put forward as some of the representatives. He wasn't the 'Greater Good' kind of guy, he was simply hoping for a better life for Ivan and Adrienne, and their children after them.

"I really hope it doesn't go to a deadlock on Wednesday." Jake admitted softly as he sipped his drink once more. "I don't want to have to stay here for another day, or however long it will take everyone to agree. As lovely as this island is, I've never been one for the warmer climates." With that, Jake let out a soft laugh, hoping Airi would see the light hearted nature of that statement.

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Airi just didn't know what people were thinking when they decided to have this vote; three days of voting for lifting the statue isn't something that you can easily decide. It would be a long and tiring process and she knew that it would all be trial and error in the beginning really.

The answer from him was enough to make Airi smile lightly; Salem was part of the American history that Airi always enjoyed listening to even if most of it was shrouded in bloodshed and darkness. Salem didn't have much of a good history but it was still a beautiful place. Salem was a clear example of how humans behaved when around the supernatural and she feared that for the future. The history does tend to repeat itself after all and Airi did not want to risk her people for that.

"That's the one thing I don't like about... our world really. Why do we put Aurors, Hitwizards, Ministers on such high pedestals? We are all human after all and we all make mistakes and sometimes, it just means that we can't do everything. Just because we have a wand doesn't mean we can create miracles." Her words were mostly spoken to herself but the disgust in her tone was clear; she hated when people put her or her aurors on such high pedestals only to push them down when something didn't go right.

"But is it?" Airi questioned lightly, her fingers tightening around the glass in her hand. "Tell me, Jake-san, do you honestly believe that the world is free as we are made to believe?" This had been on Airi's mind ever since she could remember. "I don't think it is. People are still being prosecuted for having different skin colour, for believing in a different god, for having a different sexuality... The world is not free, not by a long shot." She looked at him with curious filled eyes, waiting for his opinion.

"Hopefully it won't but the hope is for fools as some people say." She let out a deep sigh. "I'm not used to any climate really. Japan tends to be wishy-washy with its weather really. One year we'll have summers at the high temperatures and the next year they would be in the very lows..."

"The same reason Muggles put the politicians above all others, they believe they know what they're doing. It's why Muggles value the doctors they have, they can find cures, work 'miracles'. But, the moment they can't, then all hell breaks loose." Jake replied with a sad smile. You didn't need to have magic to be put on a pedestal, but he knew what Airi was trying to get at in that moment.

The question of freedom was one that made the American wizard pause. Being brought up in the country known for being the land of the free had never made him question that ideal. That was their greatest achievement, freedom, in America. It was what everything was built on, wasn't it? And yet, as Airi laid it out for Jake, about race, sexuality, and religion, he realised that, perhaps, his opinion on the whole thing might have been built upon a foundation he never really understood properly.

For a moment, Jake sat quietly, pondering that thought as he sipped his drink to buy himself a moment longer. "I'd never thought of it like that..." Jake admitted softly, his eyes flickering up to Airi's momentarily before he looked away. "I always believed people to be free, but..." He trailed off, shaking his head slightly at his thoughts. "Perhaps we still have a long way to go, but I think it's a good goal..."

The Auror kept his lips quite tightly sealed on the matter of sexuality, deciding not to open that debate in that moment.

"Are you suggesting I'm a fool for hoping?" Jake asked, though the smile playing on his lips showed that he was taking no offence to her comments. On the contrary, he was having fun with Airi in that moment. "I'm used to milder climates, myself. Especially after living in England for the last ten, or so, years." He admitted, giving a small shrug of his shoulders.

"Do you have any plans for the rest of the evening?" It was a genuine question in that moment, but one that could, possibly, have been seen as a pointed question. Jake, however, would work with whatever answer he was given.

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~ In a Relationship ~ 36 ~ Father ~ 6' ~ American Accent ~
$Who We Are Doesn't Matter {For One of Jake's Characters} Rsz_1j10$

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